


Strange Weather

by Aeradae



Series: Cullrian One-shots [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Bad Weather, Just Trying To Help, M/M, weather manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 02:29:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4373756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeradae/pseuds/Aeradae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen is trying to train his soldiers, but the weather seems to have other plans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange Weather

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheLadyMagician](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadyMagician/gifts).



> A piece for Cullrian Prompt Saturday on Tumblr: “Dorian uses his magic to change the weather around all the soldiers training–snow, rain, lightning, the whole she-bang–in secret. Dorian does this for days until Cullen catches on and confronts him about it.“

“Good work soldiers, now, again!” Cullen shouted as he walked through the rows of sparring soldiers, correcting forms and stances as he went. He was happy to see that most of them showed significant improvement from several weeks ago. A few more sets and I should dismiss them for the day. They deserve a rest. 

He frowned as he felt moisture spatter onto the end of his nose. Looking up, he noticed dark rain clouds had gathered over Skyhold. _That’s odd, it didn’t look like it was going to rain today…_

The rain began to fall in heavy sheets, turning the packed dirt beneath the soldiers’ feet into mud. Many of the soldiers had forgotten they were supposed to be training, looking up at the sky in wonder and laughing. 

“What do you think you are doing?” Cullen barked. Their eyes snapped down to view their commander striding toward them, his jaw clenched and expression fierce. “If it rains in the middle of a battle, will you stand there and gawk like a bunch of children? Every one of you would have been dead by now. Back into positions, and let’s go over this again.”

Cullen ground his teeth together in frustration, trying unsuccessfully to push his soaked curls out of his face. Two soldiers had nearly sprained their ankles when they slipped and slid in the mud as they tried to take on their opponent. The rain was still pouring down with no signs of stopping. Cullen was forced to finish the training session when bolts of lightning began to strike, almost hitting one man and half-blinding several others.

“Alright, that’s enough for today. Go get yourselves warm and dry. Good work, soldiers.” Cullen hurried to follow his own advice, taking the stairs to his tower two at a time.

Dorian was waiting for him when he opened the door to his office, leaning back in Cullen’s chair with his feet propped against the desk. “When you said you trained your men hard, I didn’t think that included attempted drowning,” he joked with a sly wink.

Cullen rolled his eyes. He began the arduous task of removing his soaked armor piece by piece. “There was no indication earlier that it was going to rain,” he muttered as he struggled to remove his fur mantle.

Dorian came over to assist him. “It could be a blessing in disguise,” he said as he peeled the mantle off of Cullen’s body and tossed it to the floor. Cullen glowered at him. “What other chance do I have to undress you, my dear Commander?” he added with a grin.

Cullen blushed and lowered his eyes. “Just… help me with these,” he pleaded. “You have no idea how uncomfortable this is.” Dorian took pity on him and, for once, held his tongue.

—

The next day dawned cool and clear, a perfect day to train. The soldiers were in good spirits, and ready to get to work. Cullen assigned them drills and walked through the pairs, observing their progress. As he made his rounds he noticed that the air was growing noticeably cooler.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Cullen muttered darkly as fat snowflakes started to fall from the sky. “Soldiers, I better not see anyone staring up at the sky today! And if I see one single snowball the person responsible will be spending the next week in L’Emprise du Lion, where they can make all the snowballs they please.”

“Strange weather we seem to be having, Commander,” Dorian commented with a smirk as he leaned against the training grounds fence. Dorian had never taken much notice in the training of the army, but he had suddenly seemed very interested in its progress two days in a row. Cullen tucked the thought away to mull over later.

“Indeed,” Cullen replied distractedly. He lurched into action as one of his soldiers near him slipped in the snow and pitched forward with a sharp cry. He grabbed the man’s arm to prevent him from doing a face plant in the thin layer of snow beneath their feet. “Soldiers, you must be aware of your footing at all times! Especially in snow, because there could be icy patches hidden underneath…” By the time he finally turned back, Dorian was gone.

After the training was over, Cullen could barely feel his fingers and toes. He made his way to the tavern for a mug of hot cider to warm his chilled body. The Iron Bull noticed him and waved him over.

“Your soldiers are looking really good, Commander,” he said approvingly.

“Thank you. They’ve been working really hard the last couple of days; the strange weather has really put them through their paces.”

Iron Bull hummed in agreement. “Was that Dorian’s idea?

Cullen frowned in confusion. “Dorian’s idea? What do you mean?”

“Ah, shit… Well, I’m sure it’s probably nothing…”

“What is probably nothing?”

“Uh, well…”

“Bull!”

Iron Bull scratched his head. “Well, see, it’s like this. I saw Dorian weaving some sort of magic up on the ramparts about the time that you were training with your soldiers today. Coincidentally, it started snowing a short while after that. I thought maybe you asked him to do that. It could–”

“Andraste’s tits, I knew it!” Cullen swore, pivoting on his heel and storming away to confront the interfering mage.

—

Cullen cornered Dorian in the library. “What do you think you are doing? I know it was you messing around with the weather! Why would you try and sabotage my soldiers?”

Dorian calmly marked his place in the tome he was reading and set it aside. “I was only trying to help,” he replied as he got to his feet and stood before Cullen.

“Help? How was that supposed to help? Several men nearly broke their ankles slipping in that mud pit you created. Not to mention one of them almost got struck by lightning!”

Dorian tilted his head. “I know you care deeply about the soldiers under your command. You spend countless hours learning their names and where they come from, understanding their stories, and training them mercilessly so that they have the best chance possible of returning home someday. I know you have spent endless days and as many sleepless nights trying to come up with new tactics that have the best chance of keeping them alive. I changed the weather so that the soldiers could learn to adapt to different fighting conditions. It’s all very well to know how to fight on a dry field with the sun shining down, but they also need to learn how to stay on their feet when the ground beneath them turns to mud, when the air fills with snow and makes it harder to see, when lightning bursts from the skies and temporarily blinds their vision.”

Cullen could only gape at Dorian in astonishment. _That… that actually makes a lot of sense. I never would have thought of such a strategy_. He felt his cheeks flood with colour as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “You were trying to help me keep them safe,” he murmured.

Dorian smiled softly and nodded. “I may be an evil Tevinter magister, but I honestly try to do my part and help in whatever small ways I can. I would have asked you, but I wasn’t sure if you would be willing. I thought I would just prove it was a good idea instead.”

Before Dorian could make a move, Cullen lunged forward, pushing Dorian against the bookshelf and pinning him against it. Strong hands tangled in soft black hair as Cullen’s lips crashed into Dorian’s. His lips immediately parted as Cullen’s tongue swept across them and demanded access. Dorian’s hands fisted in Cullen’s fur mantle, kissing him back with equal fervor. He moaned softly, reluctantly pulling away after a moment to gasp in a shaky breath.

“Thank you,” Cullen breathed, his lips brushing lightly against Dorian’s cheek. Then, as suddenly as he had entered the library he was gone, with only the memory of his heated kiss remaining.

“It was my pleasure,” Dorian murmured to himself, painfully aware that he was blushing all the way up to his ears. He absently combed his hair back into place as he rubbed his thumb over his lips. _Maker, if that is how he apologizes, I might have to get him to do it more often…_


End file.
